Calvin Manika
VICTORIA FALLS Residents Association has welcomed the recent relaxation of the lockdown measures, but hinted there was need to shift focus under the new circumstances and be creative so as to survive.
This comes after many people in the resort city, who survive mostly on the tourism sector have been greatly affected due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown which literary grounded the sector for a while.
Speaking to the Zambezi Times, Victoria Falls Residents Association secretary general Nguquko Tshili said the pandemic has crippled many a lives in the city.
“Most residents have lost their jobs and are now near destitution. The business sector has been affected too as most hotels are operating at a low to none scale. Informal traders and SMEs are struggling too as their market base that rely heavily on tourism workers is bankrupt as no salaries are coming through,” said Tshili.
“Lockdown has been relaxed but it’s still gloomy maybe for the next six months the city will still be struggling as it depends on international tourist whom haven’t started traveling due to their country’s traveling bans also.
“For the people of Victoria Falls to survive there is need for government intervention and the city needs to diversify and start other income generating projects that can create a different industry to balance the economy of the city. Surviving under the new normal will be hard because of regulations which are new to all of us so it will take time for the residents to adjust,” Tshili said.
The tourism industry was relieved in September last year when the government decided to boost it by allowing domestic tourism while other industries remain closed.
Early this year, again hotels and other tourism related industries were left unaffected by a raft of measures set to curtail the spread of Covid-19. However, the challenge remains with the low uptake of the initiative by local tourists.
Tshili further told this publication that, “Council added the burden by increasing rates by 400% to an already crippled city”
